At the heart of nature-based cosmology lies the concept of the Three Worlds — sometimes expressed as Land, Sea, and Sky, and sometimes as the Underworld, the Middle World, and the Upper World. These are not separate realms to be visited by shamanic journeying alone but interpenetrating dimensions of a single reality, each with its own qualities and teachings.
The Land — or Underworld — is the realm of ancestors, memory, and the deep earth. It is associated with roots, stones, bones, and the slow processes of geological time. The Sea — the Middle World — is the realm of present experience, emotion, and the ever-changing surface of life. The Sky — the Upper World — is the realm of inspiration, vision, and the celestial patterns that guide and illuminate.
In practice, working with the Three Worlds means cultivating awareness of all three dimensions simultaneously. When you stand in a landscape, you stand on ancestral ground, beneath a sky full of meaning, surrounded by the flowing present. Nature-Based meditation, ritual, and prayer all seek to bring these three worlds into conscious relationship, creating a sense of wholeness that modern life often fragments.